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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28014987">veiller</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/lookatallthemoresigive/pseuds/lookatallthemoresigive'>lookatallthemoresigive</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Cloak &amp; Dagger (TV 2018)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Continuation, Chromatic Yuletide, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Post-Canon, Worldbuilding</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 21:14:24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,496</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28014987</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/lookatallthemoresigive/pseuds/lookatallthemoresigive</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Half the world's population gone in a single instant. World leaders, Nobel Prize winners, shadowy government agents. Tandy Bowen. Nearly a year later, the world has given up on them. New Orleans, however, does not give up on its champion that easily.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Tandy Bowen/Tyrone Johnson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>49</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Yuletide 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>veiller</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/SammieRie/gifts">SammieRie</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p></p><div class="center">
  <p>
    <br/>
    <span class="small">"I had a dream, which was not all a dream.<br/>The bright sun was extinguish'd, and the stars<br/>Did wander darkling in the eternal space,<br/>Rayless, and pathless, and the icy earth<br/>Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air;<br/>Morn came and went—and came, and brought no day,<br/>And men forgot their passions in the dread<br/>Of this their desolation; and all hearts<br/>Were chill'd into a selfish prayer for light"</span>
    <br/>
  </p>
</div>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Tyrone feels a weight lift off his chest as the skyline of New Orleans comes into view.</p><p>After months, he is finally home.</p><p>He probably could have used his powers to get them back, but Ty wanted the city to unveil itself slowly to him, to welcome them back street by street.</p><p>Tandy smiles at him and gives his hand a squeeze when the bus stops, end of the line, and stands up.</p><p>As they gather their belongings, Ty thinks of finally getting to see his mom and dad outside stolen moments, to sleep in his own bed. To go back to school, a free man. Billy’s killer no longer walking the streets.</p><p>He steps off the bus, already mapping out his way back home.</p><p>One look at Tandy stops him in his tracks.</p><p>They had spent every waking moment together for months, and yet the thought of leaving her, of permanently ending their getaway, makes his stomach twist.</p><p>“I want a beignet,” Tandy says, as if sensing his hesitance.</p><p>Ty looks at her in disbelief. “We’re home for the first time in months and that’s your main priority?”</p><p>“Of course I want to see my mom. And I will! But first, I want a beignet from Cafe Du Monde.”</p><p>Ty rolls his eyes. “Okay, let’s go wait in a fifteen minute line with all the other tourists.”</p><p>“That sounds like the attitude of someone who hasn’t had a beignet in far too long. Buy me some and maybe I’ll share,” Tandy says as she steers them towards the cafe.</p><p>“Oh, I’m buying you beignets now?”</p><p>“I paid for breakfast this morning,” Tandy bumps his shoulder to emphasize her point.</p><p>“Yeah, because I stopped you from dining and dashing,” Ty bumps her back.</p><p>“Because—Ty,” Tandy says, suddenly. “I don’t—<em>Ty</em>.”</p><p>She’s grabbing, clawing at him, her eyes wide.</p><p>“Tandy, what’s wrong?” Ty holds her as tightly as he can.</p><p>“Ty,” Tandy chokes out. “What’s happening?”</p><p>“<em>Tandy!</em>”</p><p>The solid weight of her hand on his shoulder lessens, and then he sees her arm breaking into pieces of dust. “Tandy!”</p><p>It happens so fast.</p><p>The last thing he sees are her eyes.</p><p>Then, where Tyrone’s best friend stood, is just a pile of dust.</p><p>Tyrone falls to his knees, touching the dust that is already being swept away by the wind. “Tandy?” He can’t see her, he can’t see what happened—<em>what is happening!?</em></p><p>Screams pierce the bubble of the horrific nightmare he is in. The sounds of cars crashing, honking, alarms. All around him, the same damn nightmare playing out again and again.</p><p>The whirring of helicopter blades forces him to look up. Against the cloudless sky, a helicopter is spinning wildly out of control. Ty gulps back his fear, his confusion, his anger, and closes his eyes. He imagines himself in the cockpit, thousands of feet above the ground.</p><p>Tyrone feels the darkness embrace him, and when he opens his eyes, he’s there.</p><p>He sits in the empty pilot's chair and wrestles with the controls. The helicopter veers sharply downward towards the building below. Tyrone’s stomach drops. He pulls the controls in the opposite direction. It mostly rightens itself.</p><p>Ty white knuckles the controls until the buildings below are replaced by Mississippi. He points the helicopter down until he’s a thousand feet above the water, then desperately imagines himself out of the cockpit.</p><p>He opens his eyes to find himself back safely on the same street.</p><p>Before Tyrone can even stop to watch the spectacular crash, he hears the sound of breaking glass, of fighting.</p><p>New Orleans needs him.</p><p>Ty gets to work.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Tyrone pulls his hoodie back and breathes deeply. Night had fallen hours ago, and the steady cacophony of sirens and screams and crying has only increased in fervor.</p><p>"Ty!"</p><p>He turns around, a knot twisting in his stomach as he recognizes the voice.</p><p>"Ty, have you seen Tandy?" Melissa Bowen asks, looking shell shocked as she hugs her cardigan closer to her body.</p><p>"Ms. Bowen, I'm, sorry—" Ty mumbles, shaking his head and backing away.</p><p>“But she has <em>powers</em>,” she whispers, grabbing his arm in a vice-like grip. “I saw you both. <em>I remember. </em>That dust, it couldn’t have affected her.”</p><p>“I’m—I’m sorry, this is beyond, I am really sorry, I-I gotta go-” Ty says, breaking his hand free of her grasp and running.</p><p>"Ty, wait! Ty!"</p><p>He veers sharply into an alleyway, and cloaks away from her before she can catch up.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Ty knocks on the door, hood down.</p><p>He waits for an agonizing couple of minutes. There’s no response. Ty knocks again, louder and more insistent. Then the door is abruptly yanked open.</p><p>"What do you wan—Tyrone, what are you doing out here? It isn't safe," Roland Duplantier says, glancing around.</p><p>"Get back, get back for the Big Chief! Wild Red Hawks about to meet!” Tyrone chants, heart pounding.</p><p>"Ty—"</p><p>"We gonna step real high on white folks' street! Wild Red Hawks about to meet!" he shouts even louder.</p><p>Roland slams the door shut in his face.</p><p>Tyrone turns and rocks on his heels. “Okay,” he mutters to himself. “Okay.” He runs a hand over his face. Taking a deep breath, he pulls up his hood.</p><p>The door behind him is flung open.</p><p>“I’m Big Chief!” Roland booms, now wearing his Mardi Gras cloak. ”Wild Red Hawks can’t fly with a naked Spy Boy,” Roland says in a lower tone, handing Ty a cloak.</p><p>Ty fingers the material in disbelief: with the colors and beading, it looks exactly like Billy’s.</p><p>“But how?”</p><p>“Your pops was working on a copy of your brother’s cloak. Left it with me,” Roland says. “Big Chief, Big Chief, calling all Wild Red Hawks to meet!” he shouts, leading Ty down the street.</p><p>They wander the 9th Ward, shouting and chanting, attracting a crowd that follows them. Soon, it’s hard to make anyone out in the mass of people, except for the members of the Wild Red Hawks and rival Mardi Gras tribes in their Mardi Gras cloaks.</p><p>When the crowd is too large to see the end of, Ty stops. He scrambles on top of an overturned car and stands up. “New Orleans!” he shouts over the roar of the crowd, but nobody is listening to him. Ty uses his cloak to teleport him to the roof of a nearby restaurant.</p><p>A hush falls over the crowd. “New Orleans, New Orleans, we weather!” Ty shouts, hoping the crack in his voice isn’t noticeable, that the cloak conceals his face well enough from the phone cameras being pointed at it. “New Orleans, together!”</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>He’s swaying on his feet when he gets back home.</p><p>When he opens the door, he's greeted by the cold barrel of a gun.</p><p>“Ty,” his mother says, uncocking the gun and rushing to wrap an arm around his waist, another cradling his neck.</p><p>“I couldn't get a signal,” Ty says.</p><p>“You’re okay,” his mom says, sobbing. “You're here and you're okay. I’ve got you, baby.”</p><p>"Where's Dad?"</p><p>Her grip on his shoulders tightens. She cries harder.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Right before Katrina, when Tyrone was almost too young to remember, Billy let him tag along with him and his friends at the mall. They walked for what seemed like hours, and still the window displays stretched on and on, stores above and below as far as he could see.</p><p>Walking through the Dark Dimension is like that. On and on forever, getting more ominous and unsettling the longer Ty travels.</p><p>He turns into the arcade, the neon glow illuminating Baron Samedi’s grin. “Here for a game?”</p><p>“I’m here for my friend. Tandy. She disappeared.” Ty scans the arcade for any sign of her.</p><p>Samedi’s smirk slips off his face and his eyes harden. “Can’t help you. Get out.”</p><p>“You’re the Loa of the dead. You have to know where she is,” Ty says, taking a step forward.</p><p>“Wherever you think your girlfriend is, she's not there. You aren’t the first person to come storming in here this month wanting a loved one back. They’re gone.”</p><p>“But she must be—”</p><p>“<em>Erased from existence</em>. This is a power higher than either of us can comprehend, so I suggest <strong>you go back to your dimension</strong>.” Samedi snaps his fingers, and Ty’s vision goes dark.</p><p>He wakes up in the church. He sits up and rubs his forehead. He hadn’t seen a single sign of Father Delgado in the church. He definitely would’ve seen O’Rielly by now. He has tried calling Mina. And Evita. Silence.</p><p>Tyrone Johnson is alone.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>He’s not entirely sure he slept that first month.</p><p>Without trucks and supply lines food’s scarce, and safe drinking water is scarcer. The head of the irrigation got snapped, so the city is scrambling to make sense of the infrastructure.</p><p>His mom keeps him locked up in the house, for his own safety, as she goes off to help.</p><p>Every morning, he waits for the click of the lock, then pulls up his hoodie.</p><p>Every day is different.</p><p>One day, he’s helping with cleanup. The other, he’s helping to distribute food.</p><p>Far more often than he likes, there’s violence.</p><p>He’s gotten better at rinsing out bloodstains.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>"There's more and more people coming into the city every day," Ty says. The light from the church’s stained glass windows warms his skin. "Soon we might even have as many as we did before. Who knows."</p><p>He picks up one of the beads spread out on the floor and carefully loops the needle through it. He isn’t as good as his father or Billy yet, but he’s getting there.</p><p>"Obviously the farms are important. I've heard the suburbs are pretty much deserted. After what happened...people want to be around other people."</p><p>He finishes sewing on the bead, completing the new white line on his cloak.</p><p>“Can you believe some people worship that purple asshole now? They go around, keeping a ‘census count’. They’re threatening to murder anyone if they think it’s above 195,064. <em>Anyone.</em> Kids, Tandy. It doesn’t make sense! We have enough problems with food shortages.”</p><p>He throws down the needle and rubs his temples.</p><p>“I’m not ready for this, you know? I’m not an Avenger,” he sighs. “I wish you were here. It’s just-” Ty says, his voice breaking, “-so hard to do this without you.” He looks up to the stained glass, trying to blink back the tears.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>“You’re running?” Ty says, waving a flyer that reads <em>Adina Johnson for NOLA Mayor. </em>“Seriously?”</p><p>"You don't seem enthused about my candidacy, " his mother says, an eyebrow raised. She sips her morning coffee.</p><p>"What's it going to change?" Ty asks. “Half the population's gone and they’re still locking us up? The banks and the corporations are trying to swoop in and take all the prime real estate from the departed. How are we going to fight that?”</p><p>“This is the <em>perfect</em> time to fight that. We all only have each other now. We have a chance to rewrite the rules. To fix what’s broken.”</p><p><em>Without killing people?</em> Ty stops himself from saying.</p><p>“You’re two hundred years too late for that,” Ty says, instead.</p><p>His mom doesn’t answer, rummaging through paper bags on the kitchen counter. She shoves a trowel in his hands. He raises a brow. “What’s this for?”</p><p>“A community garden. If you want change so bad, get to work.”</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>"They're working on monuments for you...and everyone else," Ty says, pacing. “But I feel like you’re here, y’know? Hiding behind one of the pews, just out of sight.” He shakes his head. "You wanna hear the punchline to all of this?"</p><p>The church altar doesn't reply.</p><p>"They say that 40 years from now we're likely to reach the same human population we had before this. So what was the goddam point?" he shouts, then viciously kicks the air.</p><p>His foot connects with something solid and he nearly trips, catching himself on a pew.</p><p>It’s Tandy’s bag, which he had dropped off at the church with his own, in between the chaos.</p><p>Ty carefully unzips it and pulls out one of his sweaters.</p><p>
  <em>“Did you bring clothes with you? Because it’s starting to feel like you ransacked my wardrobe.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Wow, ransacked. Nice SAT word, private school boy. And I did bring my own clothes, but,” Tandy says, getting closer.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“But?” Ty echoes, arms crossed, a smile playing on his lips.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Yours hangs nicely off my shoulders,” Tandy says, placing her hand on his shoulders to illustrate the point. She looks up through her lashes at him.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Ty finds himself leading forward. He catches himself and takes a step back, exaggerating an eye roll. “Well, I’m going to need more than a jacket to wear, Tandy.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>A flash of disappointment crosses Tandy’s face. It disappears so quickly that he thinks maybe he just imagined it.</em>
</p><p>He pulls out another of his shirts from her bag and a tape recorder stumbles out along with it. Ty picks it up and presses play.</p><p>
  <em>“Stakeout, first night. Suspects are stiffing their pizza guy. Kinda a dick move.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Tandy—”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“What? You don’t use this for homework anyways. Let me have a little fun.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“They’re moving. Let’s go. Quietly.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Okay, Mr. Killjoy.”</em>
</p><p>The tape clicks. Ty presses play again.</p><p>And again, and again, and again. For the rest of the night.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Four months later, his mom is pouring them both moonshine. Ty stares at her.</p><p>“Come on, I’m sure you’ve had a drink before. I think you’ve lived enough these past months to be of age,” she says, briskly.</p><p>
  <em>“Tyrone Johnson, drinking?” Tandy gasps. They were in Savannah, sitting on the roof of an antebellum building at sunset. Ty swipes one of the six packs Tandy had stolen from a Walmart. “What would your mother say?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Easy, I’d just blame you,” Ty says, smirking as he takes a sip. “She hates you.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Tandy shrugs. “I don't make a good impression on parents. Or on most people,” she adds, frowning thoughtfully.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Ty knocks her shoulder with his. “They’re missing out,” he says, smiling at her.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“You’re right, teenage thief and highschool dropout, I’m incredible!” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Yes, you are,” Ty says, firmly.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Tandy says nothing, but curls into his shoulder.</em>
</p><p>“Mom, did you hate Tandy?”</p><p>His mom’s eyebrows raise in surprise, then her face softens. “I didn’t trust that girl one bit, but I know how close you were. I’m sorry, Ty.”</p><p>“She was my best friend,” Ty says, quietly. “I wish you two could’ve gotten to know eachother better.”</p><p>“Then tell me about her.”</p><p>He smiles softly. “She was a force...”</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <em>“How far can you, y’know, do your hood thing?” Tandy asks. They’re on a beach in Florida. The sand is soft and the water is warm, even in December. The tide crashes playfully against their legs, then draws away, trying to pull them back in.</em>
</p><p><em>“I’m not sure,” he admits. “I have to be thinking of a place. I can’t just think about wanting to be thirty miles away, then </em>poof<em>. It’s more selective than that. Even then, it doesn’t always work.”</em></p><p>
  <em>“Try now. Try thinking of a place,” Tandy says, holding out her hand to him. “Someplace you’ve always wanted to go.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>He takes her hand and waffles his fingers with hers without thinking. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Tyrone thinks of somewhere far, far away. He opens his eyes.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>They’re standing in a forest, surrounded by mountains, all blanketed in snow. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Tandy looks around in wonder, though her teeth are slightly chattering. “Where are we?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Yellowstone,” Ty says, wrapping his arms around her to warm her up. “I saw it in magazines growing up. Always wanted to come. I mean, look at these trees!” He flings an arm out.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“And that waterfall!” Tandy points.</em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Race you to find some bison?” Ty asks.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Tandy breaks out of his embrace, a glint in her eye, cold forgotten. “You’re on!”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Tyrone closes his eyes. It’s getting warmer now, but the church is still cold. He tightens his grip on the ballet slipper.</p><p><em>Tandy, </em>he thinks. <em>Tandy.</em></p><p>He feels the darkness gathering around him, swirling, enveloping. The rush.</p><p>He opens his eyes.</p><p>Still in the church.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>It’s three months later when Evita barges into his house.</p><p>“Tyrone Johnson,” she says, interrupting his dinner alone. “Something is wrong.”</p><p>Ty laughs at that, a short bark of incredulity. “Something’s wrong? Yeah, take your pick! Half the planet’s gone, Evita.”</p><p>“It’s not that, Ty. It’s Tandy being gone. The balance is disturbed.”</p><p>“Bal—?”</p><p>“Darkness. Light. When you die, your energy will return to the earth.”</p><p>“So I have that to look forward to—”</p><p>“But Tandy didn’t die. She was <em>erased from existence</em>. As well as the light within her. After you die, New Orleans will fall to chaos. Unless you bring her back.”</p><p>“Bring her back? If world governments couldn’t do it, if Iron Man couldn’t do it, how can I?”</p><p>Evita smiles at him. “<em>They</em> didn’t have me. Let’s get to work.”</p><p> </p><p>"This is work?" Ty asks, a half hour later. They're in the Quarter, the setting sun giving the Creole buildings a pinkish hue.</p><p>Evita takes a swig of the bottle of moonshine and sprays it out. "Yup," she says, wiping her mouth. She motions for them to cross the street, then continues to drink and spit.</p><p>It's not the strangest thing people have seen this year, but it definitely earns them a few second looks.</p><p>Evita leads him like this through a maze of streets until they reach the water.</p><p>"There," she says, pointing. "I can feel the remnants of a powerful presence there."</p><p>"That's where the Roxxon explosion happened. Right off that bridge."</p><p>Evita nods, unsurprised. "Whatever we do to bring Tandy back, it'll have to happen there."</p><p> </p><p><em>You’re Tyrone freaking Johnson</em>, Tandy had told him once.</p><p>They're sitting at Evita's table. Three candles burn on the fireplace and on the table. Evita shuffles the cards and places them down. She frowns, collects the cards, and reshuffles.</p><p>“Do you ever regret…saving me?” Ty asks, glancing away and back at her.</p><p>Evita looks like she regrets it right at this very moment. “You have the powers of darkness, and you really think you can outrun destiny, Tyrone Johnson?” she says, instead of punching him. Evita puts down the last card.</p><p>She wanted to be a doctor, Tyrone remembers. He swallows and looks away.</p><p>Evita throws a card, close enough to one of the flames, frustrated. “I'm not getting anything out of the cards. They just keep saying <em>Bring Tandy Back</em>, but not how. I need a book, or something.”</p><p>“What about Legba? Some of the other Loa?”</p><p>“You’ve talked to Samedi. They’re all too scared to help. Hell, Legba didn’t even want me to tell you. I think it might have something to do about a god asking a sixteen year old boy for help,” Evita smirks.</p><p>“Wait, that actually gives me an idea. I think I might know someone who can help.”</p><p>He holds out his hand.</p><p>Evita takes it.</p><p> </p><p>As they materialize on the other side of the country, Tyrone is immediately pinned down by a force. “Old Lace!” Tyrone says, genuinely smiling for the first time in nearly a year. He wraps his arms around the dinosaur, stroking her scaly skin.</p><p>“You know this dinosaur?” Evita says, a slightly incredulous edge to her voice.</p><p>“Old Lace and I go way back,” Ty says as he stands up.</p><p>“And I thought we were weird,” Evita says. Ty takes her hand and guides it to Old Lace’s nose.</p><p>Old Lace sniffs it, and seems to find it acceptable.</p><p>Evita hesitantly reaches out to touch Old Lace when Nico Minoru comes rushing in, holding a raised knife. “Whoever you—Ty! What the fuck. What are you doing here?”</p><p>“I need your help.”</p><p>“Who is she? And where’s your angry girlfriend that looks like she shoplifts from Claire's?" Nico asks, arms crossed.</p><p>“Tandy got snapped. Evita is a friend of mine who is trying to help me get her back.”</p><p>“I’m sorry. We’ve lost friends too. And believe me, I’ve tried spells. They don’t work.”</p><p>“Tandy’s different," Ty says.</p><p>“Yeah, well, we all think that about our loved ones.” Nico looks down at the knife at her hand. “If you really want, Chase is working on a time machine. You can help him with that.”</p><p>“No, she’s actually different. There’s a chance,” Evita says, stepping closer.</p><p>Nico turns, sizing up Evita. “What makes you think that? Besides the level of power that’s coming off you.”</p><p>“I am a mambo, married to Legba, Loa of the Crossroads,” Evita says, meeting her gaze evenly. “The other Loa have confirmed that for her, it’s possible.”</p><p>“Okay, a high priestess, I’ll believe. ” Nico nods. “I’m in."</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>“So as of right now, Tandy does not exist,” Nico says, hands on her hips. “You won’t be able to find her in the Dark Dimension, no matter how far you search. But she existed at one point, because we still remember her, you still have that,” Nico points to the ballet slipper in his hand. “Ty, how did you find me the first time?”</p><p>“Well, you were doing some magic big enough for me to sense it.”</p><p>“Okay, then how did you find me today?”</p><p>“I just thought about you, and then, boom. We were here.”</p><p>Nico nods. “Like you, I can sense where someone has performed magic. But you and Tandy aren’t magic users. I draw power from the darkness, but the darkness is a part of you, as the light was a part of Tandy. Basically, if our field trip into the Dark Dimension is any indication, Tandy has made imprints all over New Orleans. And, <em>theoretically</em>, we could use it to reconstruct her. Bring her back.”</p><p>“That’s incredible!” Ty says, grinning.</p><p>“It’s really fucking hard is what it is. And I have never heard of anyone doing it successfully before. So we’re going to practice. Close your eyes.”</p><p>Tyrone does so and takes a deep breath.</p><p>“Can you sense Evita and I? Our power?”</p><p>Ty furrows his eyebrows. “Yeah. There’s this...extra presence around you both.”</p><p>“What’s mine like? What’s Evita’s like? How are ours different?”</p><p>“Evita’s is smooth. Flowing, like a river. There’s a weight behind hers. Yours is—spikier. I don’t know. That’s the only way I can think to describe it,” Ty says, opening his eyes. “I’m bad at this, sorry.”</p><p>“Keep your eyes shut. Spikier is fine. Now, reach out with your mind. Think about the entirety of Los Angeles. Draw a map of it in your mind.”</p><p>“I don’t know LA that well…”</p><p>“Doesn’t matter. Just think that big. Now, in the surrounding forty miles, try to find an energy that matches mine. No matter how faint.”</p><p>“Okay.” Ty breathes in and out with the candles, letting his mind go blank. “I think I found something.”</p><p>Nico puts a hand on his shoulder. “Take me there.”</p><p>Ty opens the darkness, and allows it to swallow them both.</p><p>When he opens his eyes, he’s standing in a dusty construction pit. “You’ve been to this place?”</p><p>“You can say that,” Nico says, darkly. “I have definitely used some powerful magic here, so it makes sense this is the first place you’d find.”</p><p>“I can’t believe that actually worked!” Ty says, grinning.</p><p>“You did a great job,” Nico says. “But it only gets harder from here. Let’s keep going.”</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>"Okay, where are we now?" Ty says, an hour and five stops later.</p><p>"Just outside Griffith Observatory. I come here to practice magic and yoga in the mornings."</p><p>Nico gestures for them to sit at the cliffside. It’s a million dollar view of Downtown Los Angeles, obscured slightly by the smog.</p><p>“Everything looks normal from up here,” Ty says.</p><p>“Yeah,” Nico says, resting her chin on her arms crossed over her knees. “Like half the planet isn’t fucking gone.”</p><p>“How were things here?”</p><p>“Bad. Things still aren’t perfect, but they’re better. We can’t all be you.”</p><p>“What?” Ty says, genuinely surprised.</p><p>“Come off it dude. Everyone points to New Orleans as like, the model to follow for recovery. Something about a competent new mayor, and a superhero who can wield the darkness. The city’s lucky to have you.”</p><p>“LA has you. And Karolina. And Chase.”</p><p>“Turns out, we’re better at preventing Earth-destroying crises, not...living with them.”</p><p>“Yeah, the cleanup is definitely worse,” Ty says. He throws a rock and watches it fall down the ravine, hurtling through the cloudless sky until it’s out of sight.</p><p>“You really think this is going to bring Tandy back?”</p><p>“The way I look at it, the universe loves to pull us apart. But it always seems to bring us together. So,” Ty says, standing, “it’s worth a shot.” He offers a hand to Nico. She takes it.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Melissa opens the door to see Ty, holding a potted basil plant.</p><p>"Ty! Excellent timing. I just took the pizza out of the oven. Oh, how thoughtful! Thank you," Melissa says, taking the plant and ushering him in.</p><p>"You're doing a nice job with the place," Ty says, looking around the cheery townhome as she leads him to the kitchen.</p><p>"I'm still unpacking, really,” Melissa says, cutting them both slices of pizza. “But people here in the 7th Ward seem nice enough."</p><p>"When you told me you were moving, I was surprised."</p><p>"I kept thinking Tandy would come storming through my trailer door," Melissa says, handing him a plate as he sits down at the table. "Eventually, I had to give up on that dream. The counselor said moving on is important."</p><p>“It would mean a lot to Tandy that you’re still attending therapy. Doing the work.”</p><p>“I sure as hell didn’t those first couple of months,” Melissa says, contemplating her Pepsi like whiskey. “But then I thought about how lucky I am to still be here. And how I owed it to her to try. So here we are.”</p><p>“I know the feeling,” Ty says.</p><p>“Of course, I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for your mom. Please thank her for me. She’s doing right by this city.”</p><p>"I wish everyone thought that way," he says. "Some people don't like that she gave these places to people instead of lining the city’s pockets."</p><p>“She did the right thing,” Melissa says, firmly. “You and your mom...you’re keeping this city going, <em>Cloak.</em>”</p><p>Ty flushes at the name social media’s given him. “Me on my own is nothing compared to how Tandy and I used to be. We made a good team.”</p><p>“I’d never seen Tandy happier than she was with you,” Melissa says, her eyes far away. “What you two had...if you ever find something like that again, don’t let go.”</p><p>Ty looks down at the crust of his pizza. “Believe me, I won’t.”</p><p> </p><p>On his way back, Tyrone cloaks to the top of Place St. Charles. He looks out onto the city.</p><p>On the rooftops, on every available patch of green, in old abandoned office buildings, there are gardens.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>“Okay,” Ty says. He’s outside a random taco shop with Nico. “So what’s the story with this place?”</p><p>“I have never done a single piece of magic here. God, I haven’t even been here since freshman year, before I knew about The Staff of One. Do you know what that means, Ty?”</p><p>“Place wasn’t that great?”</p><p>“It means you were able to sense my presence alone. It means you’re ready.”</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p><em>"You and me. Shit, Ty, sometimes that's the only thing I know," </em>Tandy had said to him once.</p><p>The oars slice through the muggy Louisiana dusk. Ty tries to focus on the distant hum of the crickets chirping near the bank, the satisfying ache of his shoulders as he rows. Maybe if he clears his mind enough, he’d be able drown out the dryness of his throat and the wild beating of his heart.</p><p>“I didn’t know they still made rowboats,” Nico says, looking out into the water.</p><p>Ty snorts at that. “It’s a pirogue—a canoe. I helped a fisherman out—”</p><p>“Stop,” Evita says. “We’re here.”</p><p>Nico stands up and nods. “I can feel it too.”</p><p>Ty pulls the oars back into the boat, and moves up to join them.</p><p>Evita draws a chalk veve. Nico, a half step behind her, pours salt on top of it.</p><p>Ty stares into the water, thinking of explosions and gunshots and ballet shoes.</p><p>Evita and Nico mutter incantations to each other, themselves, and all the gods that are watching.</p><p>When they’re done, Nico puts a hand on his shoulder. “You can do this.”</p><p>Tyrone nods. He pulls up his hoodie.</p><p>Evita smiles. “Just think of Tandy. She’s kind of hard to forget.”</p><p>He smiles.</p><p>Ty steps into the circle. A barrier of light encases him, spiraling in pulses up into the dark.</p><p>Ty pictures Tandy—her short blonde hair, the raise of her eyebrows, her smile that always screamed trouble.</p><p>He imagines her standing right across from him, close enough to reach. To touch.</p><p>"This isn't working! We're starting to attract some unwelcome attention,” Nico says. ”Ty, try talking about her. How you met."</p><p>"Tandy was, <em>is</em>, the daughter of Melissa Bowen. She's from New Orleans. The second time we met, she stole my wallet. Then she kept saving my life. She is my best friend,” Ty starts to shout, to be heard over the sound of Nico’s battle cries. “She always believed in me. And I believe in her. I believe in Tandy Bowen. The city has thrown so much at her. She was willing to give her life for this city. Now, she deserves to have that life back.”</p><p>He feels the darkness lifting him up, merging with the light. His cloak flaps in the artificial breeze as he is lifted high above the pirogue. He can feel power all around him, coursing through him.</p><p>Then that power turns into a solid force, hurling him down.</p><p>Ty hits the water, and then everything goes black.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>When Tyrone opens his eyes, he is not drowning, or even underwater.</p><p>Instead, he is in a beautiful sunlit room that is nearly blindingly bright.</p><p>He is also not alone.</p><p>“Tyrone Johnson,” Baron Samedi grins.</p><p>“You’ve done so much for this city,” a tall muscular man says. From Evita’s description, he seems to be Ogun, the Loa of justice and warriors.</p><p>“You’ve called forth this light that now surrounds us,” another man says, stepping out of the shadows.</p><p>“Billy,” Ty breathes.</p><p>“We’re so proud of you,” Tandy says, stepping forward. She’s wearing a white gown. She looks radiant.</p><p>“You and your friends have brought balance back to New Orleans. Thank you,” Ogun says.</p><p>“Where’s the real Tandy?” Ty asks, dangerously quiet. “I’m not done yet.”</p><p>Fake Tandy exchanges looks with Billy.</p><p>“There’s no guarantee you can bring all of Tandy Bowen back, correctly. The odds are small. But together? We could return her lightforce. To you. And you’d become a Loa,” Ogun says.</p><p>“Tyrone Johnson. Master of Light and Darkness. Hopes and Dreams,” Samedi says.</p><p>“Godhood?” Ty says.</p><p>“A man less deserving than you nearly had it,” Billy reminds him.</p><p>“You could protect your Mom. Your family. The city,” Ogun says.</p><p>Tandy looks at him adoringly. “And you could still have me. Here. The two of us never aging. Forever protecting the city.” She holds out a dagger of pure light to him.</p><p>Tyrone looks around at the faces. More Loa are outside the room, waiting. Waiting for him to join their ranks.</p><p>He takes a deep breath and takes the outstretched dagger.</p><p>“I’m getting my best friend back,” Ty says, then throws the dagger at the crystal ceiling, shattering it into a million pieces and allowing the water above to flood in.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Ty opens his eyes. His lungs are burning, but he ignores it. He maps out New Orleans in his mind, thinks of everywhere Tandy has used her powers, making a glowing path in his mind, connecting it with the river. He <em>forms</em> Tandy in mind, shaping her in the darkness, pouring every single memory, no matter how mundane, into the darkness stretching out from his arm.</p><p>Ty feels his power, his life, draining away, but he carries on.</p><p>There is a blinding flash of light, and an explosion that forces him upwards. He flails as the water pushes him down, filling his lungs.</p><p>A hand reaches out and grips his, pulling him <em>up, up, up,</em> until they reach the surface.</p><p>Ty gasps, puking water and coughing.</p><p>Hands grab his arms and haul him back into the pirogue.</p><p>When his breathing finally settles and his vision becomes clear, he looks up.</p><p>Tandy Bowen is standing in front of him.</p><p>She is soaked and shivering and so beautiful in the pale moonlight.</p><p>“Tandy?” he says in disbelief, reaching out to her.</p><p>Tandy takes his hand. Her skin is soft and clammy. “It’s really you,” Ty breathes.</p><p>“Yeah, I cast a spell to double-check,” Nico says, and Ty guiltily remembers they are not alone on this boat. “It’s really her.”</p><p>“That was one hell of an explosion,” Evita says, impressed.</p><p>“I like the new cloak,” Tandy mumbles. Then she collapses.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Tandy Bowen flutters her eyes open.</p><p>"Ty—" she croaks out.</p><p>He hands her a glass of water.</p><p>She sits up and drinks.</p><p>"I brought you to my house first. I hope that's okay," Ty says, watching her drink. "Nico said I should keep an eye on you for the next couple of days, and it was hard enough explaining away your reappearance to my mom."</p><p>"You saved me," Tandy says. "I was gone, and you brought me back."</p><p>"We save each other and the city. That's always been the deal," Ty says. “Besides, I had help. Evita, Nico.”</p><p>“Yeah, I’m going to need the full story when I don’t feel like I’ve been run over by a bulldozer.”</p><p>“We have time,” Ty says. “You should sleep more.”</p><p>“So should you. No offense, but you kinda look like shit.”</p><p>Ty laughs at that.</p><p>Her smile softens. “I’m not going to disappear if you close your eyes. That’s <em>your </em>thing, remember?”</p><p>“I can’t be sure of that,” Ty says.</p><p>“Then c’mere,” Tandy says, tugging his arm.</p><p>Ty climbs into the bed, on top of the sheets. Tandy wraps her arms around him and snuggles into his chest as if they’ve done this a million times before. “This feel real enough to you?” Tandy murmurs.</p><p>“Yeah,” Ty says.</p><p>For the first time in fifteen months, Tyrone Johnson sleeps soundly.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>A week later, when Tandy finally feels up to it, they walk around the city.</p><p>“It’s weird,” Tandy says, at last. “I know technically I’ve been—gone—over a year now, but it feels like it’s been longer and shorter than that.”</p><p>“Like everything's changed, but the heart of the city’s still the same,” Ty says.</p><p>“Yeah, guess it makes sense. New Orleans is practically built on destruction. Plagues, hurricanes, civil war, famine,” Tandy says.</p><p>“And rebirth. Not even some alien jackass with a god complex can completely wipe this place out.”</p><p>Tandy hums noncommittally, her eyes wandering. Whatever she sees causes her to stop so suddenly that Ty nearly runs into her. She turns to him. “Ty, is that you? That hooded figure?” Tandy says, pointing to a piece of graffiti.</p><p>“Oh, yeah.” Ty flushes, looking away from her. “There’s some street art floating around.”</p><p>“Ty, this is the fourth piece of art relating to you we’ve passed. Graffiti, sidewalk chalk, that window art in the coffee shop we just passed. You’re a hero. Like, a real hero." Tandy shakes her head, smiling. "I'm glad New Orleans had you. If we had traded places...I would've ran."</p><p>"No, you wouldn't have," Ty says, simply.</p><p>"No, I wouldn't. For you, I wouldn't have."</p><p>Tandy’s hand slips into his own.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>“I used to be older than you,” Tandy says.</p><p>“How could I forget? The way you'd lord it over me,” Ty laughs.</p><p>“Now, you’re a whole year older than me. It’s strange.”</p><p>“This whole year has been fucked up,” Ty agrees. “But I don’t mind being older than you.”</p><p>“It doesn’t mean I’m suddenly going to listen to you.”</p><p>“Wouldn’t dream you would,” Ty says.</p><p>“It just feels like so much has changed. You’ve changed, I’ve changed. I just wonder-”</p><p>“Even without what happened, the past couple of years have been tumultuous for both of us,” Ty says, grinning when Tandy rolls her eyes at the SAT word. “But I know you. I know the core of who you are. Not many people can say that about another person. Evita says our powers balance each other out. No darkness without light.”</p><p>“No light without darkness,” Tandy counters. “So, basically, we’re just stuck with each other for the rest of our lives, huh?”</p><p>The truth of her words nearly knocks him down.</p><p>“Yeah, I guess we are,” Ty says.</p><p>“Well, we can’t stand out here all day,” Tandy says, a nervous smile on her lips. She turns and knocks on the door.</p><p>“Hello-?” Melissa Bowen answers the door, holding a glass of water in her hand</p><p>“Hey, mom.”</p><p>The glass drops to the floor and shatters.</p><p>Melissa steps over it and pulls Tandy into a bone-crushing hug.</p><p>Ty turns to leave, to give them privacy, but Melissa’s hand snakes out and catches his wrist, pulling him into the hug.</p><p>“Thank you, Ty. Thank you,” Melissa says, over and over again.</p><hr/><p>"What are you smiling about?" Tandy says, as she plows the shovel into the soil. "Your mother is using us for manual labor. Abuse of mayoral power, I think." She wipes her forehead, leaving a smudge of dirt on her cheek.</p><p>"Just thinking about how celery needs both shade and sunlight to grow,” Ty says.</p><p>“Okay, weirdo,” Tandy says, laughing. She leans toward him to bump her shoulder with his.</p><p>Ty cups her dirt-smudged cheek, leans in, and kisses her.</p><p>After a few seconds, Ty carefully pulls away from her, heart pounding.</p><p>Tandy’s face is blank, and she is silent for a terrifying couple of moments.</p><p>"What, no explosion?" Tandy says, at last. "No beacon of light? Us kissing didn't like, teleport us back into the stone age or something?"</p><p>"I can't with you," Tyrone says, but he’s laughing.</p><p>"Something tells me you'll find a way to <em>can</em>," Tandy says, playing with the collar of his shirt as she pulls him in for a deeper kiss.</p><p>"Miss Mayor Johnson," an eight year old on a sugar high shrieks, and now Ty regrets bribing her with candy to switch spots with Tandy. They hastily break apart. "Ty is <em>kissing </em>instead of gardening! And he's not kissing me!"</p><p>"She seems most upset about that last bit," Tandy teases, bumping his shoulder.</p><p>"Ty, Tandy, back to work," his mom says.</p><p>Tandy takes his hand and interlaces their fingers.</p><p>It's kinda hard to plant one-handed, but they're the Divine Pairing.</p><p>They make it work.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p><i>veiller </i>| <i>To spend the evening talking with friends.</i> (French Creole)</p><p>Thanks to my friends <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/funnefatale/pseuds/funnefatale">funnefatale</a> and <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrimsonPetrichor/works">CrimsonPetrichor</a> for betaing!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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